Lilly
Endowment Vocation Initiative
In
the fall 2000, the College received an invitation to apply for a planning
grant for a new project sponsored by the Lilly Endowment. The administration
asked the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture to respond. Lilly's initiative
invites a select group of church-related college and universities to develop
programs that encourage students to think about their own vocation, whether
in church ministries or other work, in light of some of the best spiritual
and reflective practices their religious traditions can offer. In the first
round two dozen institutions received multi-year grants of up to $2 million.
In February we were awarded a planning grant; a final proposal is due by
September 1.
Our
planning process is directed by a Vocation Initiative Task Force composed
of Kim McElaney, Director of the Office of College Chaplains, Associate
Dean Mary Morton, Assistant Dean Margaret Freije, Professors Jim Miracky,
S.J. and John Schmalzbauer, Tom Landy, Associate Director of the Center
for Religion, Ethics and Culture and Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology
and David O'Brien, Director of the Center. Elizabeth Johns, Professor Emerita
from Penn and a Fellow at the Center for Religious Development in Cambridge,
serves as a consultant to the Task Force. The Task Force's mission is to
develop its understanding of vocation and seek concrete projects to forward
the objectives of the program.
Our
planning grant, developed with significant help from several college-wide
focus groups, emphasizes five key themes which are being further developed
in the V.I.T.F: Reflective Practice, Mentoring, Deepening Faith and Justice,
Spirituality and Preparing for Ministry. Our planning process involves
three steps: first, we are holding a series of seminars with groups of
faculty and staff who have initiated or plan to initiate programs that
might be assisted by a grant, such as a new advising system or a program
of community-based learning. We will also meet with students interested
in integrating their academic and spiritual formation. Second, we will
hold five focus groups with graduates, asking them to reflect on what helped
and hindered their development of a sense of vocation in their work. Along
the way we will consult with as many faculty and staff as possible. Finally
we will organize a working retreat in mid-summer to prepare the final proposal.
In
many ways this program offers an opportunity to move ahead on a central
element of our liberal arts commitment, the integration of the learning
experience. Please offer us your advice. Copies of the Planning Proposal
are available on request from the Center office (extension 3869). |
